Bulgarian Dating, Life and Relationships

Bulgarian dating and falling in love is pretty much the same as it is all over the world, the Bulgarian way of life and the people - especially the people! Many single expats of all ages move here and unexpectedly find a partner to share their experiences with and despite the language barrier it is often easier to meet someone on Bulgarian soil than it is on your native territory. If you are a lonesome single stuck on the international dating ladder in a cold dull northern European climate consider a move to Bulgaria!

Finding Love

Believe it or not, there is a wealth of dating sites aimed at all nationalities. Just adding ‘dating +bulgaria’ into an internet search engine yields a host of sites touting for your registration. Some of them like www.velida.netenable you to enter all of your details in English. Some of the sites require paid membership, whilst others like www.impulse.bg are free. There are plenty of sites that offer Bulgarian brides, but this is not representative of the real internet dating scene in Bulgaria. There is a host of good sites in Bulgarian and they are well worth logging into especially sites like www.elmaz.com and www.gepime.com

Breaking the Language Barrier

Your Bulgarian may only be limited but there is nothing like contact with the man or woman of your dreams to spur you on to learning that bit more. Many couples who correspond over the internet use Google Translate www.googletransate.com to pass messages to each other. It is not 100% accurate, but if you keep your translation simple then it works very well. It is always wise to inform the person you are writing to that you do not speak much Bulgarian and that you are using an online translator – its no good turning up for your first date completely tongue tied!

Dating a Bulgarian

There is something exotic about dating someone from another culture especially if you are already in love with their way of life and country. Most expat men find that Bulgarian girls make excellent partners, far better than had they dated someone of the same nationality. Bulgarian women are much more domesticated and less demanding, they are happy to let their man make most of the decisions for them and they do not have expensive tastes! The deal is not so good for expat women dating Bulgarian men. Bulgarian men are totally undomesticated! They believe in the old adage that ‘a woman’s place is in the kitchen’ but they do expect to do all of the work outside and are happy to hand over their wages at the end of the week. They would certainly not see you struggle with heavy objects or expect you to chop wood for the fire, but they would expect their tea on the table every night. Another point that is seldom known about Bulgarians is that in this country, affairs within marriage are tolerated and to some extent accepted and it is not just on the part of the men. This aspect of Bulgarian society is something you need to consider when dating – it is not practiced by everyone but it is far more common that in the western world. Bulgarians are also very forward and do not hesitate to tell you that they want you.

Love Across the Divide

Nicola Hayes, 21 has lived in Bulgaria for two years. Last year she met Hristo Hristov, who is fondly known as Chris throughout the expat community. Nicola works at her parent’s English bar in Rogachevo near the Black Sea coast and this is where the couple met. ‘Chris came to the bar for lunch every day, I did not speak much Bulgarian, I took his order but when I asked him if there was anything else he wanted he replied, ‘yes you as my woman.” I did not understand and asked him if he would like ketchup with the extra thing!” Nicola continues, “He invited me out with his friends and I was keen to meet more people and learn the language and there were also girls in his group of friends so I didn’t think anything about going out with this group and gradually we became an item.”

Nicola and Chris now live together in Kichevo and are coping with the cultural divide, which they know would exist regardless with any difference in nationalities, Nicola explains, “It’s very difficult at times and it is often the simple things that cause the most grief – I want a kiss goodbye before he goes to work, he doesn’t think of this. I want him to help with the dishes and housework and have to teach him that it’s not just a woman’s jobs. Then there are funny little things, like when I thought I was pregnant he asked me not to cut my hair as he said I would be cutting a limb from the baby!” Nicola and Chris see many benefits to dating someone of a different culture, because as Nicola explains “they are so much more passionate about everything and are so helpful and keen to work to provide for the family but understand that you want to work too and support you in this.”